Raincoat



June 20, 1961 M. XTAZY 2,988,746

RAINCOAT Filed March 12, 1958 Uflitsdi Sta s P t n My invention relates to raincoats and similar garments, and more specifically to a neat appearing, low cost raincoat which, although it is capable of being reused numerous times, is nevertheless particularly adapted to be carried for emergency use, after which it may be discarded, since its cost is so extremely low. Although it is expected that the garment will be used principally as a raincoat, it has other uses such as a protective smock for instance, as will appear.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a novel, attractive garment which will provide substantially complete protection for the wearer, and which may be manufactured at extremely low cost.

An additional object is to provide a novel garment having the above characteristics which may be folded so as to occupy an extremely small space, thus permitting it to be carried in a purse or pocket if desired.

Yet another object is to provide a novel garment which for most purposes may be manufactured in one size only, since it need not be closely fitted in order to avoid bulkiness. Special sizes might, however, be supplied for chil den or even for dolls.

Still another object is to provide an improved garment which may be manufactured from thin plastic film with a minimum of seams and material waste and which does not need extensive equipment for efficient manufacture.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of my invention.

In the drawings, in which similar characters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic perspective view of a raincoat embodying my invention much as it appears upon a wearer;

FIG. 2 is a front view showing how a blank of plastic material is cut to form the article;

FIG. 3 is a somewhat diagrammatic perspective view of the top portion of the garment showing the arrangement of seams; and

FIG. 4 is a somewhat diagrammatic perspective view showing one method of folding the main portion of the garment and tucking it into a pocket in the belt intended for use with the coat.

Referring to FIGURE 1 of the drawings it will be seen that the garment provides full body protection and that it has fulllength sleeves and an integral hood 12. The garment is quite loosely fitted, and at the front is well overlapped and secured about the waist by a belt 14. This garment is formed of thin plastic film of any desired type, and for this purpose I have found low cost polyethylene to be entirely satisfactory.

In forming the coat, a rectangular strip of plastic film, such as polyethylene, is laid out upon -a table or other horizontal surface and folded twice longitudinally, as at 16 and 18, with the folded over portions overlapping something less than one-third of the distance between the parallel fold lines 16 and 18. As shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings, the front strip 19 folded over from the line 18 has its free edge at 20, and is overlapped by the strip 21 which has its folded edge'at 16 and its free edge at 22.

The material is cut as follows: Beginning at a point approximately five inchesor so inwardly from the fold line 18, and at the top 23, this point being indicated at 24, both thicknesses of the material are cut diagonally Patented June-20, 1961 downwardly and inwardly at an angle of 20 or so to the vertical, this line of severance being idicated at 26. The extent of the cut is such that its lower end 28 is at approximately the free vertical edge 22 of the overlapping frontpiece 21. A similar cut30 extends downwardly from the opposite side of the folded sheet, so that the line of severance 30 is the reverse complement of the one at 26.-

The lines of severance 24 and 30 provide a truncated wedge-shaped fiap 44 at the top center of the back panel, the back panel being indicated by the numeral 32, and a similar wedge-shaped member lying thereover. The overlying member is in twopieces, except for their connections to the main body portion, and is comprised of the partially overlapped thicknesses of the two front panels. These overlapped top flaps, but not the back flap 44, are then cut 01f straight across horizontally, as at 34, approximately one-third of the way up between the ends of the cutting lines 26 and 30. The two small pieces thus removed from the top of the front panels are discarded and the short remaining flaps are indicated by the numerals 35 and 37 with flap 35 overlying flap 37.

Seams are then run parallel to the cutting lines 30 and 26 outwardly of these lines and for their full length, these seams being indicated at 36 and 38 respectively. Whether these seams are formed by sewing, by heat-sealing, or by an adhesive, will depend primarly upon the nature of the plastic film used in forming the garment and upon choice.

After these seams have been formed, the tab or flap 35 at the top of the left front panel is seamed to the rear flap 44 along the line 40 which is generally parallel and closely adjacent to the cutting line 30. A similar seam 42 is formed at the other side of the garment, acting to secure together the overlying edges of the flaps 37 and 44.

The upper portion of the flap 44 (the portion above 7 the line 34) is then folded over so as to bring the left hand edge thereof which terminates at the cutting line 30 into approximate alignment with the top edge of the front flap 35, and these two members are then stitched or otherwise seamed together throughout the full horizontal length of the top edge of the front flap 35 as is indicated at 39 in FIG. 3. Since the distance along the line 34 from the line 30 to the line 32 is less than the distance along the line 30 from the line 34 to the top edge of the blank, some of the material of the back flap 44 will extend beyond the edge 22 of the front flap 35. The approximate line along which the fold in the back flap 44 is made in order to form the last described seam is indicated at 46 in FIG. 2.

At the opposite side, the right hand edge of the rear flap 44 is similarly sealed or stitched, as at 41, along the top edge of the adjacent front flap 37 so that the sides are generally symmetrical.

The general construction and appearance of the upper portion of the garment after the seaming operations have been completed is shown in FIG. 3. From this it will appear that the portion of the back flap 44 above the line ,34 extends in a substantially horizontal posi tion and can overlie the top of the head of the wearer, while the two upwardly extending short tabs 35 and 37 of the front panels form the sides of a hood, the rearward element of which is comprised of the portion of the back flap 44 below the line 34. At the sides, the upper portions of the garment form sleeves with the seams 36 and 38 extending across the tops of the shoulders of 3 stance, which is passed about the waist of the wearer and tied.

Preferably, as shown in FIG. 4, the belt consists of a length of the plastic film folded upon itself longitudinally and seamed together as at '70 throughout its length excepting that the seam may be interrupted for a short distance, as at 72, to form an opening. Thus the main portion of the garment can be folded or rolled and tucked through the opening 72 into the inside of the belt which forms in effect an envelope therefor to retain it in confined condition. The package consisting of the belt with the main portion of the garment tucked therein may then be folded as desired and carried in a purse or pocket until used.

From the above description of my invention it will be apparent that the blank from which the article is formed is a simple rectangular piece of plastic film which may be cut from a roll, folded upon itself, and cut in only three places. All three of the cuts are along straight lines, and the portion of the material discarded as scrap is quite small. The seaming operations take place along straight lines and are few in number, with the result that the cost of the completed garment is slight and the manufacturing facilities therefor may be extremely simple. Because of the pliant nature of the thin material, the puckering and wrinkles which form, particularly beneath the sleeve, are neither bulk nor unattractive and complete freedom of arm movement is assured.

If desired, the hood material may be cut off, either during manufacture or subsequently, and in this form the garment may be put on reversed so as to form a protective smock, useful for infant feeding for instance.

During manufacture, if desired, the seams 36 and 38, and even 40 and 42, may be formed before cutting the material at 30 and 26.

From the above description of a preferred embodiment of my invention it will be apparent that substitutions and alterations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, and that the scope of the invention is to be measured by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A garment formed from a folded rectangular blank of pliable, thin material which is folded upon itself to form substantially parallel side folds and overlapping front panels joined at their edges at said folds to a back panel, said [folded blank being cut downwardly and obliquely inwardly at both sides from the top end so as to form a truncated wedge-shaped flap from the back panel joined to the major portion of the back panel at its narrow lower end, the overlying front flap members being cut transversely to a length which is substantially less than one-half the length of the back flap, the back flap being seamed at its side edges to the overlying edges of the front flaps and across the top ends of the front flaps to form a hood, and the portions of said folded blank which are spaced outwardly of said flaps being seamed at their free edges to form sleeve and shoulder portions of the garment.

2. A garment formed of a single rectangular piece of pliable film having a back panel formed integrally with centrally overlapping front panels to provide a body covering portion plus an integral upward extension therefrom, blanks for tubular portions being cut from said extension as straight upward integral continuations of the back and front panels at the sides of the body portion, said tubular portions blanks tapering from a large transverse dimension at the juncture with said body portion to a small transverse dimension at the upper ends thereof, each of said tubular portions blanks being seamed together along the cut edges and providing arm and shoulder covering elements, the integral top central back portion of said extension providing a flap above the lower ends of said tubular portions, said flap extending upwardly and then forwardly to provide the back and top portions of a substantially flat topped hood, upwardly extending flaps being formed as integral portions of the extension front panels in a position inwardly of said tubular portions blanks, said front panel flaps being disposed in front of said upwardly extending portion of said back panel flap, the outer side edges of each of said front panel flaps being seamed to the adjacent side edges of the upwardly extending portion of said back panel flap, and the top edge of each of said front panel flaps being seamed to the adjacent side edge of the forwardly extending portion of said back panel flap.

3. A garment formed from a folded blank of pliable thin material which has a pair of substantially parallel side folds joining material for a pair of front panels to a back panel at the outer edge of said back panel, said folded blank being cut downwardly and obliquely inwardly at both sides from the top end with both cuts extending through both the front and back panels to form a pair of straight upwardly extending folded and tapered blanks spaced outwardly of said cuts and upwardly extending flaps between said cuts which are integrally attached to the lower remaining portion of the first said blank, the free edges of each of said tapered blanks being seamed together to form sleeve and shoulder portions of the garment, said lower remaining portion forming the body covering portion of said garment, and at least a portion of the material in said flaps being formed to provide a hood.

4. A garment blank formed of a single piece of pliable material having a back panel portion formed integrally with a front panel portion and joined to said front panel portion at the sides by a pair of parallel folds to provide a body covering portion with an integral upward extension therefrom, a pair of oblique cuts extending downwardly and inwardly from the top of the extension through both the back and front panel portions and providing straight integral folded upwardly extending sleeve blanks at the sides of the body portion and an upwardly extending hood blank between the sleeve blanks, said folded sleeve blanks tapering from a large transverse dimension at the juncture with said body portion to a small transverse dimension at the upper ends thereof and said hood blank tapering from a small transverse dimension at the juncture of said body portion to a large transverse dimension at the upper end thereof.

5. A garment blank formed of a single piece of folded pliable material having a back panel formed integrally with a pair of overlapped front panels and joined to said front panels at the sides by a pair of parallel folds to provide an untapered body covering portion with an integral upward extension therefrom, a pair of oblique cuts extending downwardly and inwardly from the top of said extension through both the back and front panels and providing straight folded integral upwardly extending sleeve blanks at the sides of the body portion and centrally located upwardly extending integral front and back flaps attached to the body portion between the sleeve blanks, said folded sleeve blanks tapering from a large transverse dimension at the juncture with said body portion to a small transverse dimension at the upper ends thereof, said central back flap providing a blank for the back and top of a hood, and said central front flaps providing blanks for the sides of the hood.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,603,501 Yenn Oct. 19, 1926 1,710,778 Luhn Apr. 30, 1929 2,319,958 Taylor May 25, 1943 2,454,208 Richman Nov. 16, 1948 2,547,931 De Grazia Apr. 10, 1951 

